Tag Archives: National Convention

Recently the Commission for Theological Integrity was pleased to be a part of the 2016 FWB National Association meeting in Kansas City, Missouri. This was the 80th meeting of the National Association, and the first time the Convention had met in Kansas City since 2004. Below are just a few of the highlights from the Commission’s ministry to our Free Will Baptist people.

The Commission released the sixth edition of Integrity: A Journal of Christian Thought. Complimentary copies are mailed to all ordained pastors serving in the denomination, though pastors who attended the Convention were able to begin picking up their copies there. Additional copies of the journal can be requested for $7 (includes s&h) by emailing mattpinson@welch.edu. Readers will find this edition shorter than previous ones, though this has been done in the hopes of producing the journal more frequently in the future. The journal consists of four substantial essays and eight book reviews.

The Commission sponsored its annual Theological Trends seminar. This year Welch College professor and registrar Matthew Bracey gave a presentation entitled, “Legal and Religious Liberty Implications of the Supreme Court Decision on Same-Sex Marriage.” Bracey put the court decision in its proper social and legal context, then discussed the theological, legal, and practical aspects of religious liberty. He also offered some insight into what a faithful response by the church might look like in our current cultural moment.

During the Commission report on Wednesday morning, Chairman Matt Pinson recognized Mr. Leroy Forlines for his 50+ years of service to the Theological Commission, as well as his service to the denomination as a whole. Jackson Watts and Matthew Bracey presented Forlines with a recently-completed festschrift entitled The Promise of Arminian Theology: Essays in Honor of F. Leroy Forlines(Randall House Academic).

The Commission announced its 2016 Symposium, to be held on the campus of Welch College in Nashville on October 24-25. The theme of the Symposium will be “The Theological Legacy of F. Leroy Forlines.” The event, aptly, will take place only weeks prior to Forlines’ 90th birthday. The program will feature a range of presentations that deal with aspects of Forlines’ thought, as well as a panel discussion. Paper proposals and submissions may be sent to fwbtheology@gmail.com. The deadline for receiving proposals or submissions will be August 15th.

Finally, W. Jackson Watts was re-elected to a second term on the Commission to expire in 2021.

In the months ahead, we hope you will continue following the Commission’s work here at fwbtheology.com, and follow us on Twitter @fwbtheology

Last Tuesday the Commission for Theological Integrity shared some initial reports from our successful 2014 Symposium. Presentations were well-received, the evangelistic zeal of attendees was encouraged, and a lively panel discussion were part of this year’s program. This week we follow with two exciting announcements. You can listen to the panel discussion here .

First, we are pleased to now make the 2014 collection of presentations available in digital format, available for download at the discounted rate of $10. For those wanting a sample of what they missed by not attending this year’s event, readers may download and listen to the panel discussion featuring Mark Coppenger, Clint Morgan, Rodney Holloman, and Barry Raper.

Second, the Commission is also excited about their 2015 events, which will include their annual Theological Trends seminar at the National Convention in Grand Rapids. The title of the seminar will be “Discipleship in Biblical, Theological, and Pastoral Perspective.” More information will be provided soon concerning this important event, including the guest speakers.

Our other event that we want to inform readers about is our 2015 Symposium, which will be held on the campus of Hillsdale FWB College in Moore, Oklahoma. The 2015 theme will be “The Theology of Discipleship.” As readers can see, the theme connects both of our main events next year, and we hope that in turn they will complement each another. Just as evangelism is critical to the church’s ministry, so is discipleship. Because discipleship is charged with theological significance, we felt that this should be given the same level of attention that evangelism is.

We invite your questions and paper submissions for next year’s event. Papers can begin being submitted as of March 1 to fwbtheology@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you.